


stay with me, my darling

by Sparrows



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Sleepy Cuddles, look i just wanted something soft for our boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:21:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22088548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sparrows/pseuds/Sparrows
Summary: After another failed attempt to escape, Zagreus needs a rest.
Relationships: Thanatos/Zagreus (Hades Video Game)
Comments: 24
Kudos: 1549





	stay with me, my darling

**Author's Note:**

> i just needed soft fluffy content for my bestest boys so i rolled up my sleeves and this exists now

The Pool of Styx is calm.

Until, suddenly, it is not.

The wayward Prince of the underworld breaks the surface like a man drowning at sea, lunging forward and scrabbling madly at the Pool’s edge with both hands. There’s something feral and panicked in the way he clings to the slick marble flooring, as though most of his mind is still back in that snow-covered arena; finally his fingers find purchase and he hauls himself halfway free of the Pool before his strength gives out on him all at once.

Zagreus’s forehead meets the floor with a dull thump. Each breath shudders on the way out of him, great heaving gasps of air dredged up from somewhere deep inside while leftover adrenaline bleeds off of him like the open wounds he no longer has. The bloody waters of the Styx drop from his skin, his clothes, the tips of his hair, clinging to him in a scarlet second skin.

He lifts one hand, curled into a fist, and slams it down against the tile. Once, twice,a third time, his frustrated pounding growing weaker each time; his shoulders begin to shake, and when he brings his hand down a fourth time his open palm comes down on the tile and does not rise again. Instead a small, ragged noise tears itself loose of him while his shoulders continue to shake.

He’s still halfway in the Pool, waters up to his mid-thigh while the rest of him sprawls on the tiled floor, too bone-deep tired to finish pulling himself free. Instead Zagreus just lies there, aware in a vague prickling sense of the eyes upon him. The shades in procession peer at him with empty, curious eyes; somewhere beyond them, Zagreus knows, Hypnos will be peering over the top of the List, pretending as though he isn’t bursting with curiosity of his own.

He can’t bring himself to care. The only thing that rouses him is the sound of footsteps; for a moment he’s certain it’s his father having returned from the temple gates - he flinches and waits for the shouting to begin again, for surely it will the moment Hades sees him like this, collapsed in a pathetic heap against the floor - but they’re not loud or heavy enough for that, and so Zagreus lets his shoulders drop. It isn’t until the footsteps draw level with his head that he can bring himself to look up.

Thanatos looks back down at him.

He’s kneeling on the ground, hood pushed halfway off his head, a little furrow knotting his brow and something unreadable swimming in those pale gold eyes. His mouth twists downwards at the corners a touch further than usual.

“Zag,” Than murmurs. He reaches forward, brushes a few blood-damp strands of hair out of Zagreus’s face. “I...”

The sentence trails off. He glances away. He works his jaw for a moment, like he’s chewing on his words; while he stays silent, Zagreus pushes himself up onto his elbows. His muscles tremble with the strain of it; he’s tired in a way he isn’t used to, like having victory snatched away at so narrow a margin has drained him completely.

Thanatos glances up, over his shoulder, and his eyes narrow. When he turns back to Zagreus he reaches out again, curling a hand around the line of his jaw - thumb against his cheekbone, palm cradling his cheek - and Zag sighs, leans into the touch.

“Come on,” Thanatos says softly, and there’s a _whumph_ and a crackle of magic in the air, a strange and familiar mix of smoke-and-sugar that replaces the heavy incense scent that permeates the entire House—

and suddenly they’re in Zagreus’s bedroom, away from the prying eyes of the recently-dead and anyone else who might come to take a look. It looks jsut like it did before he left: messy and dimly-lit, the floor littered with abandoned clothing and other assorted items, the far wall dominated by the looming shadow of the Mirror. They’d landed on the bed, and it’s only partly-made, the sheets rumpled beneath them.

Thanatos leans back, sitting back against the pillows heaped up on Zag’s bed and stretching both legs out before himself. Zag watches him get comfortable, and then he holds both hands forward, head tilted in a silent question - an invitation, maybe, his mouth tugging up at one corner.

Though his muscles ache, Zag pulls himself forward, lays himself clumsily across Thanatos’s body so that their legs are tangled, his face mushed into Than’s shoulder and his hands grabbing at the loose fabric at the front of his chiton. Zag’s heartbeat thrums away inside his chest hard enough to be felt through both their clothes. Thanatos’s arms are careful, gentle, around his shoulders.

There’s silence for a minute or two, or maybe more; it’s hard to tell.

Then, a quiet intake of breath. “I was so _close_ this time,” Zag says quietly, turning his head just enough that his breath puffs warm against Than’s collarbone. “I thought I had him, I really did, I was _almost there_ , and then—”

Thanatos’s arms go tight for a moment. “I’m sorry,” he murmurs. “I just... I _couldn’t_ , Zag, I’m sorry.” He lowers his head, presses his face into the top of Zagreus’s hair. 

Zagreus had been on his last legs, but so had Hades; he’d been out of options, his bloodstones out of reach, his weapon knocked out of his grasp, but he’d had one thing left. He’d tried to summon Thanatos - just one more time, just once more, the only thing left that he could do but if it had worked he would have been free.

And then nothing happened, and he’d died.

“it’s okay,” Zag says, huffing out a sigh. “I know why you did it.”

It had been fear, really: fear of the consequences that would await him if he’d raised his scythe so directly against his own Master. Zagreus can’t be angry at him for that.

His eyelids are heavy, as is the rest of him; tiredness weighs down on him like the crushing depths of Erebus, pulling at him. He ought to get back up, keep going, try again, but...

Thanatos’s hand trails slowly up, tracing a delicate line along Zag’s shoulder. The pads of his fingers are slightly cooler then Zag’s skin - he’s always run a little bit warmer than everyone around him - and it leaves a strange, tingling sensation behind. Than runs his fingers through the shorter hair at the nape of Zag’s neck, scratching lightly at the skin there and earning a pleased hum in response. He spreads all five fingers wide and cups his hand around the back of Zag’s head, pressing him close.

“You should rest,” Thanatos says softly. “I’ve got you now.”

“What about... work?” Zag’s already got his eyes closed. “I don’t want to keep you from it.”

Thanatos shrugs. “It can wait,” he says, as though it’s that simple.

And maybe it is, because Zagreus falls asleep there and then, letting out a sigh and relaxing as the darkness of sleep comes up and claims him.


End file.
